The Steadfast Love of Yahweh
Because* of the steadfast love (hesed) of Yahweh we have not ceased to exist; his mercies never come to an end. (Lam 3:22)
This is one of my favorite verses in the Bible because it is so shocking. I find myself asking, why does Yahweh’s steadfast love run out? If ever there was a time that His love was justified in running out, this was it. The nation of Israel, which Yahweh had redeemed out of Egypt and led into the promised land had rebelled against Him repeatedly for nearly the whole seven centuries they lived in the land. Why does He continue to relent? Why does He continue to pursue them? And what if His love had stopped there?
Have you ever thought about that? What if God’s plan of redemption had been scrapped as the exiles were marched off to captivity? What unspeakable grace and mercy that He did not give up there! Oh how marvelous is His continual pursuit of His wayward people! Behold your God, gracious and compassionate, slow to anger and abounding in steadfast love!
Oh, the depth of the riches and wisdom and knowledge of God! How unsearchable are his judgments and how inscrutable his ways!
“For who has known the mind of the Lord,
or who has been his counselor?”
“Or who has given a gift to him
that he might be repaid?”
For from him and through him and to him are all things. To him be glory forever. Amen.
(Romans 11:33-36 ESV)
*This translation does not follow most English translations, but is probably more faithful to the Hebrew text
The Word of Jesus and the Laws of Nature
Jesus upholds the universe by the word of his power (Heb 1:3). If he stops speaking, you cease existing. The very laws of nature, are his words in action. Have you thought about that lately? God spoke, and the universe came into existence out of nothing. He breathed life into Adam, and did not destroy him when he fell. Are you in awe yet?
Great Worship Music You Won’t Hear on the Radio: Cities Apart
This is a friend of ours named Josh Smith from Memphis that my wife Kolby knows from high school. He leads worship at Christ United Methodist Church. These are a couple songs from the two CDs he’s released under the name Cities Apart. You can find more info and chord charts at http://citiesapartband.com/ or buy the songs on iTunes.
Good News for Struggling Christians
My little children, I am writing these things to you so that you may not sin. But if anyone does sin, we have an advocate with the Father, Jesus Christ the righteous. He is the propitiation for our sins, and not for ours only but also for the sins of the whole world.
(1 John 2:1-2 ESV)
These verses struck me as I was working through 1 John 2 tonight. John writes, “so that you may not sin.” He sets out with this purpose, but clearly recognizes that Christians still sin. He doesn’t take that opportunity to beat us up for our failure. Rather, he points to our advocate. Jesus stands at the Father’s side, reminding Him, not of our failure to live up to his righteous standard, but of his own righteousness on our behalf. Christ pleads the merits of his blood, shed for us.
The word translated propitiation here, likely refers both to the satisfaction of the Father’s wrath against sin and to the expiation – the wiping away of our sin. The propitiation means that God is no longer angry. We no longer need to fear punishment! Jesus took our punishment! And not only this, but he is continually our righteousness, and every time we sin, he wipes the slate clean!
What good news this is to us as we struggle! Jesus Christ the righteous is our advocate! And so we say with the psalmist “Whom have I in heaven but you? And there is nothing on earth that I desire besides you!” (Ps 73:25)
For Sale: PRS Starla, Gretsch Country Classic, Fender Tele, 65 Amps Marquee, Boss DD-7
This is not what I normally use my blog for, but it’s my blog, so who’s gonna stop me? The guys at church laugh at me. It’s become a running joke how many guitars and amps I have gone through, but I’m at it again. I love trying new things, so I go through a lot of gear. It’s become a bit of a hobby to shop around and find good stuff and trade with people. And I’ve met some cool people doing it, so it’s a win-win.
Prices are for a local sale in Memphis, TN. Otherwise, I could ship and take Paypal, but that’s on you.
Gretsch Country Classic $1500
It’s in nice shape, with Bigsby. I believe this is a 2002. Strap locks, OHSC.
PRS Starla $1100 SOLD
PRS Humbucking pups hwith coil splitting and a Bigsby. This is an extremely versatile guitar! They started making these in ’07, but I’m not sure the exact year. Dunlop strap locks, OHSC.
Fender American Standard Telecaster $700 SOLD
Blizzard pearl with two single coil Tele pups. Rosewood neck. 2009 model in like new condition. Dunlop strap locks and OHSC.
65 Amps Marquee Head w/2×12″ cab and road case (fits the head and cab together). Has been on tour and has a few signs of wear, but sounds phenomenal.
Would sell the head for $1500 SOLD
Cab for $650 (no pictures of the cab, but the condition is very similar to the head) sOLD
Road case for $300 SOLD
To sell the cab, I have to find another amp, which mean the head has to sell first. Really would prefer to trade for a Morgan.
Boss DD-7 $110 SOLD
It’s a Boss delay pedal. Internal or external tap tempo and looping. In good shape with velcro. It’s sturdy and reliable.
Here are some pictures of everything, including some other stuff I already sold: Album 1 | Album 2
Trades I’m interested in would be a Gibson ES-137 (or something similar), a Morgan amp in head/cab config (prefer EL84s and EF86), or a tube mic in the $1500 and under range (Advanced Audio, Lawson, ADK Custom Shop, Pearlman, Soundelux).
If you’re interested, leave me a comment or Tweet me.
The Story of Our Lives is God’s
This is a great song by a friend of ours called “White Page.” As good as the song is, the video is even better. Check it out.
The Priority and Risk of Community
I hear so many people talk about community in the church. We want to develop community. We want to foster community. We want to use the word as many times as we can so everyone knows we value community. But there is a danger in all this talk of community becoming little more than a buzz word that we use to identify ourselves, especially over and against those other churches, who don’t have such great community as we do (or so we tell ourselves).
I read a book about self-deception for one of my seminary classes called I Told Me So. One of the arguments in it that stuck out to me the most is that the things we value most often become the areas where we are most easily self-deceived and least likely to listen to correction. When we value things more than we should, they become untouchable. We find it nearly impossible to reassess the priorities closest to our hearts. What does this have to do with community?
In the church, it is easy to talk about valuing community without getting into the nitty gritty of putting it into practice. Sure you may say you value community, but do those around you feel like they belong? Are there outsiders in your church? People who don’t quite fit in? When they speak up about their frustrations, do you even hear them? Have you become so enamored with the successes of your community-shaping endeavor, that you don’t understand when someone feels like they aren’t a part of your super awesome close-knit tight community?
In all our talk about community, it’s easy to miss the fact that community is not an end in itself. Community itself is an elusive goal. The goal instead should be love and unity in truth, the natural result of which is community. If you are shooting for community, but not seeking love and truth, you will never find it. If you are not actively loving people, speaking the truth, and hearing people when they speak the truth to you, there can be no community.
So let’s talk about community. But let’s recognize the priority of love and truth. Let’s be open to the truth that our community may not be the best thing since sliced bread. We may just be insiders (and who doesn’t love having a good group of friends?). But the outsiders disagree with our assessment of how super sweet our community is. Are we listening?
Loving the Church While Seeing Her Flaws
There is a tension I wrestle with. I love the church. I’ve spent all my life in churches and serving the church. I’ve given the last four years of my life to studying to serve the church. But I am also intensely aware of the shortcomings of the church in this age that is passing away. I am constantly working through this tension, recognizing that the church is filled with fallen and broken people like me, who do things that fallen and broken people do, while maintaining hope.
Jesus died for his church, for those who were his enemies. He is preparing her “as a bride adorned for her husband” (Rev 21:2). This gives us a great hope. The church is “a pillar and buttress of the truth” (1 Tim 3:15). It is God’s arena for revealing His wisdom to the heavens (Eph 3:10).
But in the meantime, we have this group of people that sometimes leaves us scratching our heads… And sheesh! Have you looked in the mirror lately?! I’m a part of the problem. You’re a part of the problem. We all are.
Is it healthy to look at the church and see her flaws? I believe it is. It can certainly be unhealthy to look at the church and either not see her flaws or see only her flaws. But there is a healthy sense in which, we need to see the flaws of the church. These are the things that drive us to strive for purity and to dig deeper into the Lord and His Word.
The flaws in the church were what led the Reformers. They saw a church in need of washing and purifying, and they fought to do it. In the midst of this tension, there is an opportunity for us to wrestle with the Scriptures and seek the face of God. If the church is His wisdom and part of His plan for the advance of His kingdom, then He certainly is deeply invested in her. She is not a plan B. She is His plan for the redemption of sinners and the restoration of creation. We pray for His will to be done. May His will be done in our churches, as we continually press in to the Word together and seek to love one another more deeply.
Want to Be Rich?
Want to be rich? Our culture is driven by the desire for riches. But what does this desire do to our soul? The Bible does not condemn wealth, but it has some strong words for the pursuit of riches. There are many today who want you to have “Your Best Life Now.” But are they promising the things God has promised? If not, then what has God promised?
The beauty of it all, is that God promises you the greatest treasure of all – Himself. The treasures of this earth are fading away. They are rusting and eaten up by moths. They are quickly spent on fleeting pleasures. God wants to give you a treasure that will last forever. The question is, how much does He have to take from you first? Our tendency is to fall in love with the things of this world. C.S. Lewis puts it this way,
Indeed, if we consider the unblushing promises of reward and the staggering nature of the rewards promised in the Gospels, it would seem that Our Lord finds our desires, not too strong, but too weak. We are half-hearted creatures, fooling about with drink and sex and ambition when infinite joy is offered us, like an ignorant child who wants to go on making mud pies in a slum because he cannot imagine what is meant by the offer of a holiday at the sea. We are far too easily pleased.
Let us confess our half-heartedness and disdain of God and His promises. Christ died for this. And don’t fall for the false hope of the prosperity gospel. See it for what it truly is.
John Piper explains it more fully in this video.
Happy Birthday Adolph Hitler…
Today would have been Adolph Hitler’s 123rd birthday. I have to admit, even putting “Happy Birthday” and “Adolph Hitler” in the same sentence is repulsive to the senses (but it got your attention, didn’t it?!). But what if you arrive in heaven and are greeted by a repentant and redeemed Fuhrer? Could the grace of God be enough for the crimes of Hitler? And what does our response say about our own view of grace? Do we think we deserve it?
Punishing Murder: Justice in a Post-Christian World
What punishment is just for premeditated murder? What about when the perpetrator openly confesses, shows no remorse, and says he would gladly do it again? Now, let’s say this murderer killed more than one person. Should we multiply the penalty by the number of victims? What would you suggest?
The results of abandoning the Christian heritage of a culture are on full display in Norway right now. Anders Behring Breivik, who murdered 77 people recently faces trial for his crimes. The maximum sentence? Twenty-one years in a plush facility where he has all the luxurious accommodations of a modern college campus. Dr. Albert Mohler, president of my seminary argues that this is a worldview issue – one that can be traced to the secularization of one of the worlds most progressive countries. Can there be justice in a post-Christian world?
A Cause Worth Dancing For: A Dosey Doe for the Children of the Congo
My friend Augie grew up in the jungles of the Democratic Republic of Congo, an African nation torn by wars and ravaged by foreign corporate interests. He came to our church soon after immigrating to the US, and we have watched him work hard to establish himself in his new country. He now has a steady job, is taking night classes at a community college, and has his own apartment. It has been our privilege as a church to get to know Augie, and help him through the process of getting to know his new country.
Augie came here by himself and all his family is still in Congo, including two nephews and a niece whose father – Augie’s brother – is no longer living. Augie has been appointed their guardian, and is working to bring them over from the Congo, because of the dangers they face there. If you have seen any news coming out of central Africa, you have heard about the wars, kidnapping, and child soldiers. Augie’s nephews and niece are in a high risk area, where they could be kidnapped and forced to fight in the army. Additionally, rape and the sexual violence in Congo is some of the worst in the world.
Our church is working with Augie to make sure this does not happen, but we need your help! Sunday April 29th, from 6 to 9 PM we will be hosting a square dance at Middletown United Methodist Church here in Louisville. We are asking for a minimum donation of $5 per person/$15 per family to help cover the paperwork, legal fees, and everything involved with removing these children from harm’s way. Please join us in the cause!
You can view the e-vite online. More details to follow regarding a website, a way to make donations, and t-shirts that are in the works, so check back soon!
The Sound of Music
One of my hopes in starting this blog was to use it as a way to work through song ideas and share them. I have been writing songs since I picked up the guitar nearly 14 years ago, and have thoroughly enjoyed being a part of a worship team at our church over the past four years that is constantly writing songs for worship and singing these new songs to the Lord. I am a firm believer that the music of the church has a profound impact on shaping the church’s culture. Songs that grow out of the life of the church give the church an opportunity to clearly express together a shared identity in Christ and render praise to God for this identity.
Over the course of the last two years, I have bought and sold thousands of dollars worth of musical and recording equipment. It’s sort of an odd hobby I have, and it’s been a chance to meet a lot of people with similar interests and aspirations. But several months ago, I had run out of time and space for my recording equipment, so I sold it all and with some of the money, bought some new guitar gear. After a songwriting event at the seminary recently, I finally decided I wanted at least a basic recording setup for song ideas as they came and making some basic demos. So this week, I bought an Apogee Duet 2 on eBay that I hope to use to capture some of what I’m working on. So hopefully, I’ll be getting some new material here soon. In the meantime, enjoy some music from Needtobreathe.
They teased us last week at the concert. They played the intro 1 chord with the 4 suspended chord over and over and over for like 10 minutes, Bear muttered a bunch of stuff, and then they stopped and went on to another song. Not cool guys. Not cool. Play the song already.
Seeing NEEDTOBREATHE in Concert in Lexington
How awesome is my wife? In January she asked who my favorite band was. I said Needtobreathe was near the top right now, so she bought two tickets to their show in Lexington (about an hour drive) three months out. She told me to keep my night free, but wouldn’t tell me what we were doing.
Ben Rector opened. If you don’t own his CD, you should. I discovered Ben via a free Noise Trade sampler about six months ago. Very fun, lively, and soulful tunes. Ben and his band made for one of the best opening acts I’ve seen.
Then Needtobreathe came on. I’ll have to say, I’ve been to a lot of really loud concerts. I may just be getting old, but I think this may have been the loudest concert I’ve ever been to. My ears felt violated. But in spite of the overwhelming decibel level, it was a great show. I love the way Needtobreathe melds together their gospel music roots with very singable pop/rock melodies and blues rock guitars. A little piano and organ to fill out the sound, and oodles of harmonies. If you aren’t listening to these guys, you should be. You can thank me later.
So here’s a little video Kolby took from her camera at the show. It’s on YouTube, but it’s private. You can only get to it from here. Enjoy!
Pastoral Idolatry
This was an article I bookmarked the other day. If you are in ministry, or in seminary, it is worth reading and filing it away. I know I can definitely feel the allure of these idols in my own heart. Click here for the article.
Rethinking Blue Like Jazz?
I have not read the book or seen the movie and have no intention to do so, but the constant buzz I’ve seen about Blue Like Jazz made me curious. Dr. Mark Coppenger, who was my philosophy professor my first year at Southern gave a review of Blue Like Jazz several years ago at Southern. In it he calls Donald Miller (the author) Schleiermacher with a sol patch (Schleiermacher is widely regarded as the father of modern theological liberalism). Miller’s vision of Christianity, Coppenger argues is no different than the liberalism that infested Southern for years (Coppenger would know-he wears the scars of the battles). So if you’ve read the book or are planning to see the movie, give this critique a listen and careful consideration.
Ideas Have Consequences: Is Genesis 1-11 historical?
There is a new movement among evangelicals to discount the historicity of Genesis 1-11. It’s really nothing new, as this was a beginning stage of liberalism well over a century ago. But there seems to be a rise in the number of scholars and lay persons who accept these views, with little thought for their consequences.
There are really two questions we should ask:
1) Should we continue to read Genesis 1-11 as history?
2) If we reject the historicity of Genesis 1-11, what else goes with it?
The answer to 1) seems self-evidently ‘yes’ to some and ‘no’ to others. But answering 2) is where we find the real weakness of the rejection of historicity. Here’s a list of doctrines negatively impacted by the rejection of the historicity of Genesis 1-11 (feel free to add to this list).
1) Creation
2) Fall
3) Salvation
4) Resurrection/New Creation
5) Incarnation
6) Deity of Christ
7) Inerrancy
8) Inspiration
What is Christianity without these doctrines? Is there even anything left? Is what is left even worth keeping? The first generation usually argues yes, while the second generation and beyond generally follow ideas to their conclusions, seeing no need to continue to embrace the things they don’t believe. We see the results of this born out in many mainline American denominations today.
The picture is sobering, and I’m reminded of the life of Crawford Howell Toy, who was the first professor at my own seminary (The Southern Baptist Theological Seminary) to move in this direction. Toy’s story is a tragic case of following the conclusions of his own logic. It is a downward spiral from modernism, historical criticism, and the embrace of Darwinism, to liberalism and Unitarianism as a professor at Harvard, finally to a philosophical Pragmatism (You can find Toy’s story in chapter 3 of Gregory Wills’ book on the history of SBTS).
Denying the historical nature of Genesis 1-11 leads to the denial of real doctrines with real consequences. The historicity of Genesis 1-11 may not fit with the current trends of culture or the understanding of modern science, but we cannot so easily reject it without great consequences to our faith. Does it present us with an extremely difficult position to maintain as Christians? Absolutely! Should we expect any less from a race that has declared its hostility toward God?
Reading the Book of Ruth as Christian Scripture
Recently, Dr. Jim Hamilton, a professor of mine brought an article to my attention that I would highly recommend you reading. It is called When Gentile Meets Jew by Peter Leithart. Leithart sees Ruth in the grand narrative of Scripture, and weaves together a number of great insights. Check it out.
Church Planting Part 4: Listen to this Guy
I could write a lot more on the subject of church planting, but for now, I’ll turn it over to a guy I have learned a lot from: Ed Stetzer. He has a series of recent posts on his blog based on his new book Viral Churches that I think are a great read. Check them out here.
Church Planting Part 2: Was Paul a Pastor?
Church planting is en vogue in America. Everybody’s doing it. There are new networks popping up for church planting, planters, and plants every day. There’s Acts 29, the Sojourn Network, NAMB, One8, Treasuring Christ Together, and so on. The common thread with these networks is the assumption that the church planter is the pastor, but is that the biblical model?
Was Paul a Pastor?
It does not appear that the Apostle Paul was ever a pastor. He never refers to himself as such, and makes sure to appoint elders (another word for pastors) in all his churches. I don’t think this was on accident. It allowed Paul the freedom to keep moving, but I think it had a greater purpose for the churches he helped establish.
Why is this Observation Important?
What does Paul accomplish by not establishing himself as the pastor of a newly formed church? What Paul (I believe consciously) does is create a leadership vacuum. The churches know that Paul and his team will be moving on, so it puts pressure on the men of the church to fill the leadership roles. If Paul were to establish himself as the pastor, he would stifle the growth of the men he was preparing to lead the church. Instead, he leaves the leadership open, so that men will “aspire to the office of overseer” (1 Tim 3:1). With their feet to the fire, these men were motivated to grow and dependent upon the Spirit to prepare them for ministry.
What About Today?
What if we adopted the biblical model in our new churches? We use the biblical model overseas, where it has often led to great movements of the Spirit. In Africa and Asia, many people have come to know the Lord in a short period of time due to the efforts of itinerant evangelists who did not see their role as that of a pastor, but as one called to make disciples and raise up leaders. JD Payne (my church planting professor, who you will hear me mention a lot) calls our current model “a one-winged plane,” arguing that we shouldn’t abandon it totally, but seek to promote the biblical model. How can we move in this direction?
A Note to Those With Accusations Against CJ Mahaney
My post of notes from CJ Mahaney’s sermon at T4G the other day received multiple comments with links to blogs attacking Mahaney and his use of church discipline in Sovereign Grace churches. I am aware of the situation and have read the main accusations. Everything I have read is groundless, slanderous, and does not accord with the truth of the gospel.
The administration of a church is a difficult task, and elders are to be held in high regard for their service to the Lord. The internet is not the place to take accusations against an elder. I am not claiming that Mahaney is without fault. I have no first hand knowledge of the situation. I am only saying that this blog is not the place to make accusations. Your comments will be deleted, so please do not waste your time or mine. Thank you.
John Piper: Glory, Majesty, Dominion, and Authority Keep Us Safe for Everlasting Joy. Reflections on God’s Keeping Power through 32 Years of Ministry. Jude 1:24–25
The following are my notes from John Piper’s T4G sermon. The audio is online here.
1) The amazement that we are still Christians
2) An analysis of how that came about
24 Now to him who is able to keep you from stumbling and to present you blameless before the presence of his glory with great joy, 25 to the only God, our Savior, through Jesus Christ our Lord, be glory, majesty, dominion, and authority, before all time and now and forever. Amen. (Jude 24-25)
60 years as a Christian, 32 years of pastoral ministry, 44 years of marriage, in last year as a pastor
Why be amazed?
Journal from 1986 – Loathing a building program and all the things that come with it. No vision for the future. Feeling empty. Not seeing how he can find the inspiration to cast the vision. Discouraged. Blank. Opponents on every hand. Blind to the future of the church. A prayer for mercy.
Amazed.
Doxologies begin with the actions of God and then comment on His attributes to account for these actions.
Action: keeps you from stumbling, presents you blameless with great joy.
Attributes: eternal glory, majesty, dominion, authority
Do you have any idea how much it took to keep you alive to this moment? Do you know the degree that it took? No! We have no terms of measuring such things. How do you quantify the creation of a spirit and living being and then sustaining it? Is it pounds of pressure? How do you measure it? Be amazed! God creates spiritual life when we are dead!
Christ is the animating principle of our creation and spiritual life. We are not autonomous beings. Jude is clearly amazed at this. God does it all with a word!
The measurement of what it took is the difference between us and God. Infinite.
The measurement is glory, majesty, dominion, and authority! Stunning!
How that happens
Jude begins and ends with a strong assurance that God is our keeper. He is able does not just mean that He may do it. It means he is mighty to do it! God calls those He wants and keeps those He calls! God is faithful! There is an absolute certainty between being called and being kept (Romans 8)!
Jude wanted to celebrate salvation, but must warn against false teaching and teachers. They are professing Christians but don’t believe (v 5). They are not called and therefore not kept. They are using the grace of God to get what they want (sensuality).
What should we do?
For ourselves (vv 20-21)
For others (vv 22-23)
Keep yourselves in the love of God. Work hard! Work out your salvation, knowing that God is at work in you. Keep yourselves in the love of God, because God keeps you in the love of God. By means of faith, prayer, and waiting, we keep ourselves in the love of God. Trust God, pray, and continue to trust that He will answer!
The very things I d to keep myself in the love of God are the things God is doing by His Spirit to keep us! There is a way to do effort by faith. Why will you wake up a Christian tomorrow? Because He is powerful to keep you! God is fulfilling the new covenant (Jer 32:40-41) in the blood of Jesus. It comes through the blood of Jesus! We come through Jesus Christ.
Jesus has bought you with his blood. God is keeping you. Therefore, keep yourselves in the love of God.
Andrew Nordine's Blog 
Nothing is What it Seems: Social Media and Perception Management
Is it just me, or do Facebook and Twitter make it look like other people are having way more fun than you? For all the great things social media has done for us, it presents us with some interesting dilemmas. One is what we share. It is very easy for us to share the best part of our lives online and create the perception that all is well, regardless of reality. We manage our image so those around us know how cool our friends are, who we just hung out with, how great our date was tonight, or how hot our wife is.
We have to be careful on two fronts. First, we can easily create a perception of ourselves that is false. We can convince people that we are someone other than who we are. I’ve literally watched people whose marriages were falling apart, but their Facebook profile picture showed something different. The images and words were joyful, but everything was broken.
The other danger is to look at the public images of others, not realizing that it has been sanitized, whitewashed, and sugarcoated, and then never see the imperfections, the brokenness, the struggles, and the real life situations. As I have been looking at church websites recently, I have noticed how easy it is to judge a church by its online presence – its website, its media, the pastors’ tweets – all contribute to a public image that may or may not have any basis in reality. We say talk is cheap and a picture is worth a thousand words. The reality is, online talk – where there is no one to question our view of reality – and profile pictures – always posed at our peak moments of sheer bliss – create a romanticized version of our lives.
We need to be able to look through these things. We need to see through our own facades and those of others. We desperately need to see the brokenness, the fallen mass of humanity, and our need for hope and a redeemer. Nothing is what it seems.
April 22, 2012 | Categories: Cultural Commentary, The Christian Life | Tags: church, Facebook, media, online presence, perception management, Twitter, website | Leave a comment